Italian (Medieval) – To prepare a thick soup of dried lentils (Per far minestra di Lenti secche)

 

I love lentils! They are one of my favorite legumes and they have a very long history of cultivation dating back between 8000 and 10000 years ago.  When I found this recipe in Scappi's Opera I knew I had to try it.  It makes a delicious  (and inexpensive) soup, but an even better salad.  

I have to confess, I cheated and used canned lentils for the salad, but you could make this even less expensive and purchase dried lentils and cook them yourself according to your packages directions.  I have included the soup recipe here, along with the changes I made to convert this from a soup to a salad.

When/if the SCA allows us to cook feasts again, you will be seeing this soup at a future event. 

Per far minestra di Lenti secche - To prepare a thick soup of dried lentils

Clean dirt off the lentils and put them into a pot with warm water; remove any that float and boil the rest in the same water. While they are boiling, with a large, holed spoon lift out any that rise to the top and put them into another pot: that is done so that the sand that sometimes gets into their little hole will come out and drop to the bottom of the pot. Put good lentils into a pot with oil, salt, a little pepper, saffron, water and a handful of beaten fine herbs; finish off cooking them. For the dish to be good, make the broth rather thick. Cloves of garlic can also be cooked with them, and bit pieces of tench and pike.

1 ½ c. lentils
2 ½ c. water
2 T olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 tsp salt
¼ tsp. Pepper

Herbs to taste; basil, rosemary, oregano, fennel, thyme, parsley or sage  
Pinch saffron

Opt: Onion (for modern taste), additional olive oil, lemon

The beauty of lentils is that they do not need to go through a prolonged soaking period. Do make sure to rinse your lentils before you add them to your pot of water, and do make sure that as they cook you remove any that rise to the top, and any scum that forms while they are cooking. You can if you choose cook your lentils in vegetable stock but it is not a necessary step.  

Cook your garlic in your oil, add all other ingredients with the exception of salt.  Bring water to a boil, lower heat to a medium-low and simmer your soup until lentils are tender.  You may add any herbs you wish.  I usually add a handful of kale to this soup along with some onion (which I've cooked with the garlic), thyme, basil and parsley. 

To serve, garnish with a drizzle of oil and a squirt of lemon. 

To Make into a "Salad" -  Make a dressing using lemon juice or vinegar (about 1/4 cup), olive oil (about 3/4 cup), herbs and spices, and mix with your lentils while warm.  Serve warm or cold. 

Italian (Medieval) – To make Roman style morsels (A far morselletti Romaneschi)

For more information on the role of biscotti in the 16th Century please visit the following: 

Little Morsels or Biscotti from the 16th Century Italy by Lady Helewyse de Birkestad who was the inspiration for my attempt to translate the "Roman Style" Morsels below.

A far morselletti Romaneschi

Ogni tre uova sbattute vogliono una libra di zuccharo di Madera pisto, & un’oncia di cannella fina pista & bene spolverizzata, con un grano di muschio, & far la casa nella farina, mettendovi ogni cosa dentro mescolandosi molto bene con mano farina che si può, facendosi in forma di morselletti, & deono cuocersi al modo delli biscotti, & ravioli con fuoco adagio. Si cuocerebbon meglio quando sfornato il pane si mettesser nel forno, quando saran cotti crepperanno.

To make Roman style morsels

For every three eggs beaten together you want a pound of Madiera sugar ground, and one ounce of finely ground cinnamon powder, with a grain of musk, and make a hole in the flour and put into it every thing, mixing everything very well with floured hands, make them in the form and morsels and put them to cook in the same way as biscotti and ravioli with a slow fire. They cook the best when one has just pulled out the bread from the oven and you put them then in the oven, they are cooked when they burst and crack.

Interpreted Recipe

3 eggs
2 ¾ cup flour
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon or anise seed


Mix all ingredients together and bake 350 degrees until lightly browned.  

These are delicious.  An excellent sweet that gets more flavorful as it sits.  

The Singular Doctrine of ... D. Romoli known as Panonto; in which it is the Scalco office; of the seasoning of every dish, ... of making banquets of all times in princes ..., in the end a short treatise on the health system (reduced by the substance of medicine by R. Gropetio, etc.) ... Again ... reprinted & reprinted, etc By Domenico Romoli 1610

Italian (Medieval) – Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo -Cold salted beef lightly spiced

To lightly salt and boil every cut of the said animal, chapter 4, Scappi

I find that the shoulder and breast of the said animals are more appropriate than the others. When the cow or bull is dead and skinned without being skinned, one cuts it into the said layers in many pieces, and one puts it in slat in a ceramic vessel or wood, the which has been well washed, because if the salt is not cleaned, and if it is full of dirt it will have a bad smell, and when the pieces are places one on top of the others one covers the vessel with a wood cover, adding above a weight that holds everything well pressed until it has made the salt solution, and the summer when it has been curing for four days, and in the winter for eight, one pulls it out of the vessel, as much as you want to cook, rinse it in fresh water, and put it to cook in water without salt, and make sure above all that it is well skimmed. When it is cooked one can serve it hot or cold at every time with garlic sauce or mustard in plates. And if you want to make it in the same day that the animal is killed, take a piece of the shoulder or another part, and put it to boil in strong salted water until it is well cooked. And serve this in the same way that it is said above.

Ingredients

2 Pounds beef brisket or flank steak 
1/2 C. salt
1/2 Tbsp. pink salt (sodium nitrite)

2 Tbsp.  coriander

2 Tbsp. cracked black pepper 

1 Tbsp. each garlic powder and crushed fennel

Trim and clean the beef, removing connective tissue and most of the fat. Prepared the dry rub by mixing together all ingredients.  Rub the cure over all of the meat surfaces and place in a ziplock back.  Refridgerate for 7 days, turning the bag daily. 

I chose to "brine" my meat instead and omitted the pink salt.  I placed the dry rubbed meat into a ziplock bag and then covered it with water.  I allowed it to sit for three days before cooking.  I rinsed the meat very well, dried it with a paper towel and then cooked it on a grill. 

Alternatively, you can cook your meat in a slow cooker on low overnight. Allow meat to cool, slice and serve garnished with parsley or on a bed of greens.